Laura Guldemond has announced she is stepping down as the singer of Burning Witches, the Swiss heavy metal band with whom she recorded four studio albums after joining in 2019. The Dutch vocalist shared the news on her personal Facebook page, in a message addressed “to the Burning Witches family and metal fans around the world”.
“After seven incredible years, I’ve made the heartfelt decision to step down as the band’s singer”, she wrote. “These past years have been a phenomenal journey. I’m immensely proud of everything we accomplished, of the four heavy records we made together, and I will forever cherish the unforgettable memories we created along the way”.
Guldemond asked for respect on all sides: “I sincerely wish Burning Witches all the best moving forward, and I kindly ask you, the fans, to respect this decision for everyone involved. There are no hard feelings—sometimes it’s simply time for a change when visions no longer fully align”. Looking ahead, she added: “I’m excited to focus fully on my own music and embrace whatever exciting creative adventures come my way next. This isn’t a goodbye to music—just the start of a new chapter!”
Burning Witches have not yet issued a statement of their own or named a replacement.
Guldemond joined in June 2019, replacing original singer Seraina Telli, who left to focus on her band Dead Venus. With her, Burning Witches released ‘Dance with the Devil’ (2020) and ‘The Witch of the North’ (2021), both on Nuclear Blast, followed by ‘The Dark Tower’ (2023) and ‘Inquisition’ (2025) on Napalm Records, which signed the band in February 2022. ‘The Dark Tower’ reached number three in Switzerland, the band’s highest chart position at home; ‘The Witch of the North’ hit number six in Switzerland and 16 in Germany, and ‘Inquisition’ number seven in Switzerland and 26 in Germany.
With Guldemond, the band also toured the Americas. In 2022 they toured the US with The Iron Maidens, and on 1 December 2023 they opened ‘The Dark Winter’ tour in Mexico City at the Life After Death Horror Fest before heading through the western US in support of ‘The Dark Tower’. Their August-September 2025 US tour was pushed to March and April 2026 after visas failed to arrive in time, with rescheduled dates in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland and Virginia, and the band played Toronto in April this year.
Born on 31 July 1988 in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands, Guldemond fronted Shadowrise, a symphonic power metal band from Eindhoven, from its formation in 2009 until its split in 2019, recording the EP ‘Escape from Shadow Island’ (2016) and a self-titled album (2018). She also sang with Synergy Protocol from 2013 to 2015 and Magoria from 2017 to 2018. She has guested on releases by Ayreon and Ellefson-Soto, and this year appeared on Bloodhunter‘s ‘The Path That Never Ends’ and Valiant Sentinel‘s ‘Neverealm’. She also runs a solo covers project on YouTube, tackling songs by W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Slayer, Pantera and Judas Priest.
Burning Witches were formed in 2015 in Brugg, in the Swiss canton of Aargau, by guitarist Romana Kalkuhl, who had set out to build an all-female metal band. They debuted in 2017 with a self-titled album on Non Stop Music Records and signed with Nuclear Blast in 2018, releasing ‘Hexenhammer’ that same year. The current line-up includes Kalkuhl, bassist Jeanine Grob, drummer Lala Frischknecht and guitarist Courtney Cox.